Is Huntsville becoming a 'Pentagon of the South'?

The Huntsville Times/Dave DieterPhase III of the new Von Braun Complex at Redstone Arsenal is seen from the courtyard. Growth in commands and programs at the installation, which has spurred growth outside the gates, has led some to call this area a "Pentagon of the South."

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville, long known as "Rocket City," lately also is saluted as a "Pentagon of the South."

The title sneaks into conversations and even into print every once in a while as a shorthand way of referring to the growth of commands, programs and influence at Redstone Arsenal and, by extension, area defense contractors and businesses.

"That phrase is a bit over the top," said Dr. Jess Brown, a political science professor at Athens State University and longtime observer of the region.

He points out that, after all, we are mostly Army here - HOOAH! - while the Pentagon is headquarters for soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and all the services. The famous five-sided facility is also where the U.S. military's ultimate geopolitical strategy is formed in consultation with civilian leadership in the nation's capital.

"I actually don't have a problem with 'Pentagon of the South,' " said former Col. John Olshefski, now Huntsville's District 3 City Councilman. He spent 27 years in the Army - including "a year of penance in the Pentagon" - and served as Redstone Arsenal Garrison Commander before retiring in 2008.

He said that, other than the Pentagon itself and really big installations such as Fort Bragg - also often called the Pentagon of the South - there aren't many places with more generals on post than Redstone Arsenal.

And Olshefski doesn't think anywhere else except the real Pentagon has as many members of the Senior Executive Service, which are Department of the Army civilian counterparts to generals.

Mini-Pentagon

And not many places can, like Huntsville, boast of having more than 100 retired generals living and working in their cities.

"We send our general officers to the Pentagon to get trained and then let them retire here and produce more and more for this community," said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, only half joking.

Calling this area a mini-Pentagon is meant as a compliment, Battle said. But it doesn't reflect the fact that we actually do things.

"We are more of a technological hub than the Pentagon is," Battle said. "The Pentagon is a management agency."

Plenty of program management goes on here, too. And perhaps the hundreds of billions of dollars that is handled by arsenal-based commands and agencies is itself enough to justify comparison with the Pentagon.

But there is also aviation, missile defense, software, energy and other research, development and engineering work that goes on in our laboratories, hangars and offices, he said.

"We have to stand on the quality of the programs that we produce on a day-to-day basis. I think we can do that," Battle said. "Some days I think you can say we're better than a 'Pentagon of the South.' "

Four-star general

If it's possible to justify pinning a "small Pentagon" badge on the Huntsville area it's largely because of what's happened during the past year.

"BRAC was good to us," Brown said, engaging in a bit of understatement.

The 2005 BRAC moved the Army Materiel Command's headquarters from Fort Belvoir, Va., into a new building on Redstone Arsenal, along with more than 1,350 AMC positions and commander Gen. Ann Dunwoody.

Dunwoody is the first female four-star officer in the military, and one of only 11 active-duty four-star generals in the Army. Five of those serve within the Army; six serve in joint service positions.

AMC is responsible for developing, procuring, moving and sustaining just about everything a soldier uses, wears and even eats. It is the first four-star command to have its headquarters in Alabama.

Other BRAC moves include the Missile Defense Agency relocation of more than 2,200 positions into the giant Phase III addition to the Von Braun Complex of offices, solidifying Huntsville as the agency's "center of gravity." (MDA, which is "joint" in that it involves the Army, Navy and Air Force, is led by a three-star general.)

$500 million construction

More than 200 positions were added to the Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic headquarters that was already here (a three-star command); and the U.S. Security Assistance Command's move into a new headquarters adjoining AMC brought another 340 or so jobs (USASAC is a two-star command).

The Aviation Technical Test Center was moved from Fort Rucker and merged with an agency here to create the Redstone Test Center, a big new hangar facility and more than 300 new jobs. BRAC also moved the headquarters for the Army's 2nd Recruiting Brigade and 75 jobs to the arsenal into yet another new building, and did much more.

The 2005 BRAC moves alone spurred about $500 million in construction on the arsenal.

All that is in addition to what was already here. Thanks to the 1995 BRAC, Redstone Arsenal has long been home to what is now the Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command (led by a two-star general). The arsenal can also count the Program Executive Office for Aviation and PEO Missiles and Space, which report to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, among its many military tenants.

Positioned for growth

"Every mayor of Huntsville back to Mayor (Robert) Searcy understood that the payroll and contracts of the United States Army was the core of the Huntsville economy," Brown said. "Now, there's some risks with that."

Notably, the risk that cuts in federal spending - like the major ones threatened now - will mean huge cuts in Huntsville payrolls. But Brown thinks we're well-positioned for the future.

"If you're going to have an Army, you're going to have to have a lot of what the Army Materiel Command does," he said.

"You'd be hard-pressed to budget cut us out of the game," Olshefski said. "That is true even more now, with the AMC piece, than it was in the past."

The mix of arsenal commands and agencies make it a place the government will likely turn to as it seeks greater efficiency, Battle said. "The future, what we're looking at I think is more in the shape of what the Pentagon is," he said.

That is, Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville may become home to more "joint" programs involving all the services. Battle said it makes sense, with the Army and NASA aviation and propulsion expertise on the arsenal and among the companies in Huntsville, for Air Force and Navy or joint helicopter, missile and rocket programs to grow here.

That makes us a place where the Defense Department could save money, and more attractive in the next round of BRAC discussions.

"I think that's what we've got to look forward to," Battle said. "It's cheaper to work in Huntsville, Alabama" - 20 percent cheaper than in D.C., the East Coast or the West Coast, he said. That gets a lot more for each taxpayer dollar.

"I think we can look forward to some great growth," Battle said. "We could be very much a smaller Pentagon in the South."